Air-mines against attack from aircraft.



P. IVICKINNEY.

AIR MINES'AGAINST ATTACK FROM AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 19| 5.

l 1 819,596 Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ART

P. IVICKINNEY.

AIR MfNEs AGAINST ATTACK FROM AIRCRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 23, l9l5. Y l

' Patented Apr. 2o, 191).

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UNITED ,STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

PARCUS MCKINNEY, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

AIB-MINES AGAINST ATTACK FROM AIRCRAFT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application mea september 23, 1915. serial No. 52,141.

It is an object of this invention to devise a system of protection against hostile aircraft, such as aeroplanesl or dirigible air ships, which consists of a number of captive balloons arranged at suitable intervals along a line or inclosure which it is desired to protect against such attacks. The system consists of a number of units each comprising a series of balloons which are held captive by a cable which is wound about a rotatable y drum, each of said balloons being provided with a contact bomb designed to explode when the lever projecting therefrom comes in contact with the hostile aircraft.

It is another object of this invention to devise protective means which may be easily taken down and removed during the day and which may be easily and quickly placed in proper position during the night. The invention is especially useful against attacks from hostile aircraft during the night. In order to render the apparatus invisible as much as possible all parts which are likely to be seen by the hostile aircraft are painted in a dark color.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention consists in the construction and arrangement of lparts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, I have illustrated a convenient vand practical embodiment of my invention, and in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of two units of the air mines. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, with parts broken away, of the eXplosive contact bomb. Fig. 3 is a side eleva.- tion of a captive balloon showing the attachment ofthe bomb thereto. Fig. 1 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 5 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a bomb on a large scale showing means for attaching the .same to theballoon. Fig. 7' is a detail view showing the fastening means securing the upper cage, which holds the bomb, to the balloon. Figs. 8 and 9 are detail views showing a plan view and a cross sectional view, respectively, of the cage engaging ring of the horizontal stay members. Fig. l0 is a detail view of a snap hook of the main cable connecting the same to the horizontal bars from the ends of which a pair of captive balloons is supported. `Fig. 11 is a detail view taken on line, 11-11, of Fig. 2. Fig. 12 is a detail view of the bomb lever.

A and B designate a pair of adjacent mine units as shown in the drawings. The units are exactly alike in all respects differl ing from each other only in their relative positions to each other. Each unit comprises a series 'of balloons, a single balloon on top and a plurality of pairs of balloons.

The pairs are arranged in a vertical plane,

while each pair isv arranged in a horizontal plane. Each'pair of adjacent balloons, 10, l0, of one unit lies in a horizontal plane which passes approximately through the middle of the space between two adjacent pairs of balloons of the units on either side thereof. It is obvious that such arrangement will cause each pair of balloons to occupy a place in staggered relation to the adjacent pairs of balloons of the mine units on either side.

A rotatable drum, 11, of a suitable size to hold a cable of the desired length, which may be several thousand feet, is secured on a lirm foundation.

12 designates the operating handle for winding or unwinding a cable, 13, on the drum. While I have shown a manually operated means for winding and unwinding the cable, it is obvious that power operated means may be substituted therefor. The cable, 13, is connected to horizontal bars, 14, suitably spaced'apart and provided with eyes, 15, 15, at their extremities from which flexible connections, 16, lead upward to balloons, 10, 10. Each balloon is provided with a. suitable net work, 18, covering its surface, to which 'a horizontal ring, 19, encircling the balloon around the middle, is secured. The balloon is made of a suitable size to support the contact bomb, 20, which is Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

balloons from moving outwardly toward the' side of the bombs and to maintain them in a substantially fixed relation to the central rope, 13. f

The upper part of the cable, 13, is composed of sections, 135, which are attached' to the horizontal rods, 14, as follows: The bar, 14, is provided at the middle with upper and lower eyes, 23 and 24, respectively, for

the reception of a snap hook, 25, attached to the adjacent ends of the cable sections, '13-.

The contact bomb, 20, may be of any suitable design. The one shown in Fig. 2 consists of a spherical metal casing, 26, provided with explosivechamber, 27, filled with any suitable explosive such as gun cotton. A. percussion cap, 28, is attached in` the lower wall of chamber, 27, and adapted to be set ofi' by a plunger member, 29, located in a cylindrical housing, 30. The housing is provided with a base plate, 31, which is perforated for the reception of the stem, 32, of the plunger member. Intermediate the ends of stem,r32, a plate, 33, is rigidly secured thereto. Between said plate and base plate, 31, a'coiled compression spring, 34, is arranged. A horizontal lever, 35, having a fulcrum, 36, within the bomb is provided with an enlarged end at its inner extremity. The end is provided with two adjacent circular apertures, 50, 50, connected by a small slot, 51, through which the lower end of the stem, 32, of the plunger, 29, projects. The lower end 0f said stem is provided with a circular plate, 52, rigidly secured thereto,

y the size of said plate, 52, being smaller than the apertures, 50, 50. The lever, 35, is movable horizontally in either direction and it is obvious that when the lever is so moved fthe bottom plate, 52, of the plunger will be released through one of the apertures, 50, of the inner end of lever, 35, and the coiled spring, 34, being now free to act will project the plunger upwardly against the percussion cap, 28, thus exploding the bomb.

The bomb is attached to the balloon as follows: A semi-spherical cage, 37, composed of metal rods or bands, of a size to receive the lower half of the bomb, 20, attached tothe lower half of the balloon at the side remote from the central cable, 13. A horizontal stay rod, 38, connects the lower end of the cage with the bottom of the balloon and short rods, 39, connect the top of the cage to the balloon adjacent thereto. The bomb, 20, is held in place against rotation by means of a rectangular projection, 41, which engages an aperture, 40, of the cage.V A pair of hinged links, 42 and 43, disposed at diametrically opposite sides on the circular member, of the bomb cage securely locks the bomb in place. The upper ends of said links are bent toward the balloon and provided at their extremities with apertures, 44, adapted to receive a bolt, 45, which secures said links to the horizontal ring, 19, of the balloon. As shown in Fig. l

for. The single balloon of each unit is pro-- vided with a pair of bombs arranged at diametrically opposite sides. The link members, 42 and 43, of the bomb cage being open, the bomb is inserted into the bomb cage, 37, and the links are closed and se' cured to the horizontal ring,"19, by means of bolt, 45, as described. The snap hook of the cable section from which the first balloon is suspended is passed through the ring, 22, in the guy rope connecting the pair of balloons immediately below and then secured to the upper' eye, 23, of the horizontal bar, 14,

from which said pair of balloons is tethered. The bombs are inserted in their respective cages and this operation is repeated until the desired number of balloons -have ascended. The air mines are arranged in stag- -gered relation to each other and at suitable intervals so that the hostile air craft would find it practically impossible to pass between adjacent mine units without coming in contact with the horizontal contact lever of one of the bombs. Contact therewith will explode the bomb and destroy the hostile air craft as will be understood. When the air mines are removed the cable is wound up on drum, 11, and each pair of balloons is unhooked from the cable sections, the bombs having previously been removed from the cages.' The snap hooks of adjacent cable sections are hooked together and are Wound on the drum, 11, together with themain calbe, 13, as will be understood.

While I have shown the preferred system of aerial defense as known to 'me at the present time, I do not wish to confine myself to the specific construction and arrangement of the parts as described. Various changes maybe made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention as covered by the appended claims.

claim:

1. An aerial defense against hoile air drum, a plurality of horizontal balloon supy vertical arrangement and forming a longitudinal Wall-like zone, each unit comprising a cable, a cable Winding drum, a plurality of horizontal balloon supporting bars, means for detachably connectingsaid bars to said cable, said bars being arranged in vertical alinement and equidistantly spaced apart, a' pair of balloons tethered to the outer ends of said bars, a cable engaging guy rope connecting said pair of balloons, a cage attached to the side of the balloon remote from said cable, a contact bomb arranged in said cage, and means for locking said bomb in said cage.

2. An aerial defense against hostile air craft comprising a series of mine units in vertical arrangement and forming a longitudinal Wall-like zone, each unit comprising a cable, a cable Winding drum, a plurality of horizontal balloon supporting bars', meansfor detachably connecting said bars to said cable, a pair of balloons tethered to the outer ends of said bar, a cable engaging guy rope connecting said pair of balloons, a bomb cage attached to the side of the balloon remote from said cable, and a contact bomb locked Within said cage.

b 3. An aerial defense against hostile air craft comprising a series of mine units vertically arranged and disposed side by side to form a Wall-like zone, each unit comprising a cable, a cable Winding drum, a plurality of horizontal balloon supporting bars detachably` connected to said cableand arranged in Vertical alinement, a pair of balloons tethered to the outer ends of said bars, a guy'rope connecting the adjacent sides of said balloons, and a contact bomb suspended from the side of the balloon remote from said cable. l

4. An aerial defense against hostile air craft comprising a series of mine units, each unit comprising a cable, a cable winding porting bars arranged in Vertical alinement connected to said cable, a pair of balloons tethered to the outer ends of said bars, and a contact bomb suspended from said balloons.-

5. An aerial defense against hostile air craft comprising a series of mme units arranged side by side and forming a longitudinal Wall-like zone, each unit comprising a cable, a cable Winding drum, a plurality of horizontal.balloon supporting bars verporting bars, means for detachably connecting said bars to said cable, a pair of balloons tethered to the outer vends of said bars, a cable engagingguy rope connecting said balloons, and contact bombs suspended fromsaid balloons on the side remote from said cable.

7 An aerial defense against hostile air craft comprising a cable, a plurality of horizontal balloon supporting bars, means for Idetachably connecting said bars to said cable, a pair of balloons tethered to the outer ends of said bars, a cable engaging guy rope connecting the said balloons, and contact bombs suspended from said balloons on the side remote from said cable.

8. An aerial defense against hostile air craft comprising a cable, a plurality of ballcon supporting bars connected to said cable, a pair of balloons tethered to the outer ends of said bars, a guy rope connecting said balloons, and contact bombs suspended from said balloons on the side remote from said cable.

9. An aerial defense against hostile air craft comprising a cable, a plurality of balloon supporting bars connected to said cable, a pair of balloons tethered to the outer ends of said; bars, and contact bombs suspended from said balloons. l v

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

PARCUS MGKINNEY. 

